


They Will Not Be Safe

by RobberBaroness



Category: Hammer Horror Films, The Brides of Dracula (1960)
Genre: Aftermath, Bittersweet, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Psychological Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-02
Updated: 2013-07-02
Packaged: 2017-12-17 11:50:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/867202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobberBaroness/pseuds/RobberBaroness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Van Helsing and Marianne will never forget what they have seen, but they can help each other feel a little less broken by it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	They Will Not Be Safe

He holds her close and tells her she’s safe and that no one can hurt her now, but the truth is that she’s already been hurt, and neither of them will ever be safe. He’s known that about himself ever since the death of Jonathan Harker, that he will never be able to know a night’s sleep without taking the appropriate precautions, or have a friend without worrying that the world is so much more dangerous than they know, or take a lover without fearing that his enemies would take revenge through them-

Van Helsing is tired of being afraid, and all he can tell Marianne as she weeps in his arms is that she’s safe and no one can hurt her now, because to admit to anything else would destroy him.

They retire to his lodgings- she doesn’t care if the school hears of it and arranges for her dismissal, because the school is where her friend was murdered and she was abducted, and she will never return there as long as she lives. She wants to express her gratitude, but all she can manage to do is make things worse.

“Why couldn’t I have stopped him? Why didn’t I know what he was? My throat, it burns...everywhere he touched me feels like it’s infected. There’s a scar on my neck, I’m sure of it!”

Van Helsing grabs her by the shoulders, turning her to face him, doing his best to keep the anger from his eyes. _(How? How can these foul beasts continue to torture the innocent after they have been destroyed?)_

“There is no scar, Marianne. The Baron is dead, and he will pay for his sins eternally. None of his wickedness has marred you, and I will not hear you speak of cruelty done to you as if it was a sin of your own.”

She shakes her head, and he regrets the force with which he spoke to her. It was the last thing Marianne needed, when her heart had been broken and her world shattered. Instead, he unbuttons his collar and bears his own throat to her.

“Here I was bitten, by the very man we slew tonight. Do you see a scar?”

She shakes her head, and perhaps it is the relief which makes her kiss him, and perhaps it is his desperation to make things better for her that makes him kiss her back. It is all they do that night, though it is assumed by the innkeeper that they have done more (but who is he to argue with well-paying guests?) When he wakes in the morning, Van Helsing looks down at her red hair splayed across her forehead, and brushes it away from her tired eyes. She is beautiful, but of course he knew this already.

He spends the next few days making sure Baron Meinster left no remaining progeny in the countryside. Marianne comes with him, at his suggestion. If there are none, it will show her once and for all that she is safe...and if there are, he would rather have her where he can defend her than leave her alone. And of course, there is the fact that these days he would rather be with her than without her, no matter the circumstances.

She is a good conversationalist, when the mood is light enough for them to talk. History was her favorite subject to teach, and while Marianne speaks of battles and kings, Van Helsing can fill in the gaps with stories about the local customs and folk beliefs of various areas and time periods. Folklore is not quite as charming a subject anymore, but they discuss it as well, and Marianne listens attentively, particularly to the parts where he explains how werewolves and witches can be defeated.

Sometimes Van Helsing wonders when it was that he first began to love her. When she announced her engagement (it seems so long ago now) he’d congratulated her and proclaimed his happiness, and supposed himself to be telling the truth. Had he been? He’d been pleased to think she’d be well cared for, and then horrified when she told him who her husband would be. But even if she’d been wed to some harmless man, would he have been glad to go about his business and never visit her again?

He knows the answer to that. It is because he loved her that the Baron had tortured him as he did, forcing him to watch as he made his attempt upon the kidnapped Marianne. It is because he still loves her that that image will never leave his mind, and the pain that comes at the thought of her being harmed continues. Van Helsing wishes he could spend all his days in her pleasant company and never have to think of any danger, but it cannot be that way.

Despite this, before he leaves the town he takes her in his arms and kisses her for the second time. She wraps her arms about him, her body shaking as she holds back tears. Van Helsing knows he has no right to ask her what he intends- but perhaps that is for her to decide.

“Marianne- it pains me to think of going without you. I am not a baron, and cannot promise you a life of wealth or luxury, though neither am I destitute. Since I first began to study the monsters we have seen, my life has been one of chaos and peril. That may change in the future, or it may not.”

The hint of a smile plays on her lips as she listens to him continue.

“If such a life does not appeal to you, I cannot blame your judgement. Nevertheless, I would like to ask for your hand in marriage.”

“There is no other life I can live,” Marianne replies. “I would rather be by your side than without you, whatever that means!”

They will not be safe. She will never stop checking her neck for scars, and he will never cease to fear for her when they are apart. The world is full of horrors, and all they can do is face them together.


End file.
